The British Society of Gastroenterology is an organisation focused on the promotion of gastroenterology within the United Kingdom. It has over three thousand members drawn from the ranks of physicians, surgeons, pathologists, radiologists, scientists, nurses, dietitians, and others interested in the field.

The BSG Clinical Services and Standards Committee has a remit to advance excellent patient care by improving service delivery, encouraging quality improvement and producing guidelines and standards of care based on the best available evidence.

The purpose of the BSG Research Committee is to stimulate the quantity and quality of basic, translational and clinical gastrointestinal and liver research conducted in the United Kingdom, with particular reference to clinical research and widespread involvement of Society members.

Any member interested in becoming involved in research should contact a member of the Committee

Training

The BSG Training Committee is a forum for discussion on the training needs of Specialist Registrars in medical gastroenterology. It aims to coordinate discussion between professional bodies with an interest and make recommendations.

The aim of this document is to provide an evidence- base according to which good quality secondary care services should be commissioned for patients with symptoms and conditions related to the gastrointestinal tract and liver.

Adherence to this should facilitate care that is:

appropriate

good quality

cost effective

coordinated across primary and secondary care

It is expected that implementation of these recommendations should:

re-align resources to improve outcomes and provide better value

reduce inequalities in care

The guidance given here focuses on provision of medical gastroenterology and hepatology services, including endoscopy, but does not cover emergency or elective surgery. It also does not
cover the essential high quality support services that include specialist GI/liver pathology, diagnostic and interventional radiology, and microbiology, all of which need to be commissioned to ensure a good GI/hepatology service.

The new commissioning framework represents a great opportunity for colleagues in primary and secondary care to work together to re-evaluate patient needs, reduce activity that is outdated or
of limited value, invest in high value services that meet patient needs and thereby achieve the overall objectives of improving value whilst modernising the service to meet the goals of the Outcomes Framework as it applies to gastrointestinal and liver diseases.